Post-Earl Forecast Could Boost Local Shellfish Companies

As the clouds rolled in Friday morning, Jack O'Donnell – manager of Aquidneck Lobster Company – and staff hustled to move their supply of lobsters from tanks to crates. Though Hurricane Earl had weakened, O'Donnell wanted to be prepared.

"In case we lose electricity we can just put the crates in trucks to keep them refrigerated," he said. "If the storm surge does come, we can just move the trucks up the hill."

Unfortunately for O'Donnell and others, they're not the only ones playing it safe this weekend. Cancellations and postponements of events have sprouted up, including the cancellation of a 600-person clambake at Bailey's Beach in Newport. The event, held every Labor Day weekend, sees lobsters supplied by Aquidneck and clams by McGrath's Clambakes.

"I've had a couple of major cancellations, which now they're kicking themselves and trying to postpone a day," O'Donnell said.

O'Donnell estimates that only 10 percent of his scheduled events, including the clambake, were impacted by the hurricane. T.R. McGrath of McGrath's, however, only saw one other event affected, as the bulk of his weekend events are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.

"Personally it wasn't bad on us," McGrath said. "We didn't really have to adjust too much. If this storm had been 24 hours later, we would've had a big problem."

As Earl weakened to a tropical storm during its approach to southern New England, the prospect of making up for lost business grew. Forecasts for the remainder of the weekend show high temperatures in the 70s and 80s with sunny skies.

"I think Saturday will be a bust," O'Donnell said. "A lot of times on these three-day weekends, Sunday and Monday will be extra good. I could end up making up half the business because of that."

According to both men, Earl's wrath won't be isolated to just this weekend: expect a change in seafood prices come next week. Fishing boats began hauling in gear a few days ago to flee the impending stormy seas. Coupled with the end of the summer tourist season, unofficially marked by the Labor Day weekend, lobster dinners may cost a bit more in the coming week.

"Taking a few days out of the fishing cycle always throws a curve ball in pricing," said McGrath. "It wouldn't surprise me and I actually anticipate a bump next week. Since the impact of the storm is a little bit less than what was forecasted, I don't think it'll be that bad. The pricing will normalize in a few days."